Greetings!
The 57th Minden CBC was held on Saturday, Dec 16th in near perfect
conditions. The morning was spectacular, with blue skies, very little
wind, and temperatures slightly above 0C. By 1:00pm, clouds began
rolling in and the wind picked up a bit but counting was still easy. The
warm early winter temps kept the large lakes open, and the snow cover
was minimal (0-5cm). A total of 31 field counters participated in the
count, with a total effort of just over 96 hrs. Another 12 feeder
counters assisted.
Although some feeder watcher data is still trickling in, preliminary
results show a diversity of 48 species (slightly above the 20 yr. avg.
of 45.9), and 4727 individuals (above the 20 yr. avg. of 4287). One
additional count week species was observed, Red-bellied Woodpecker.
Highlights:
Greater Scaup - 14 (3rd count record)
Bufflehead - 8
Red-breasted Merganser - 5
Cooper's Hawk - 1 (9th count record)
Golden Eagle - 2 (5th count record)
Bohemian Waxwing - 25
Northern Cardinal - 4
Common Grackle - 1
Snow Bunting - 698 (just shy of the 711 count record back in 1982)
Count Highs:
Trumpeter Swan - 19 (prev high 12)
Greater Scaup - 14 (prev high 2)
Cooper's Hawk - 1 (ties prev high)
Golden Eagle - 2 (ties prev high)
Barred Owl - 8 (ties prev high)
Belted Kingfisher - 4 (ties prev high)
Brown Creeper - 17 (prev high 16)
Winter Finches:
Purple Finch - 134
Red Crossbill - 57 (the highest count since 1967, when 65 birds were
counted)
White-winged Crossbill - 4
Common Redpoll - 44
Pine Siskin - 344
American Goldfinch - 640
Best of the holiday season to everyone and good birding!
Cheers,
Ed Poropat
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